Ralph Vaughan Williams
“O taste and see”

The text sung at Communion on the Eighth Sunday after Trinity is from Psalm 34: “O taste and see how gracious the Lord is: blessed is he that putteth his trust in him.”

This text was set to music to be be sung at Holy Communion during the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey, on June 2, 1953. The composer was Ralph Vaughan Williams. For the occassion, Vaughn Williams also composed a grand setting of the Psalm tune OLD HUNDRETH, sung to the familiar words of “All people that on Earth do dwell.”

By contrast, his setting of “O taste and see,” is gentle and comforting. This brief motet is sung here by the Cambridge Singers, conducted by John Rutter.